Origin, Program, and Operation of the U. S. National Health Survey

A description of the developments leading to enactment of the National Health Survey Act, and a summary of the policies, initial program, and operation of the survey. 41 pages, paper back. U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service, Washington, D. C. 1963

Abstract

With the increase of health programs in the United States following World War II which were concerned with research as well as morbidity, the need for a national health survey became pressing. Information of more than a routinely reported nature concerning the health of the nation was needed by federal, state and local health and welfare administrators for purposes of identification of problems and for evaluation, as well as for planning, of health programs.

Although one national health survey had been done previously in 1935–36, new sampling techniques had been since developed and a new U. S. National Health Survey was launched in July 1956 as a continuing process to produce statistics on disease, injury, impairment, disability and related topics on a uniform basis for the nation.

The problems of measurement in compiling health data are considerable, determination of severity of an illness serving as one example.